Andrew McPherson
Flying Officer · 39200 · United Kingdom
- Died
- 12 May 1940, aged 22
- Fate
- Killed in action
Biography
Andrew McPherson (1918–1940) was a Glasgow-born pilot of No. 139 Squadron who flew the first British operational sortie of the Second World War. On 3 September 1939, hours after Britain declared war, he took a Bristol Blenheim across the German coast at 24,000 feet to photograph and report on German warships in the Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven — the first British aircraft to enter German airspace in the war. His reconnaissance fed directly into Bomber Command’s first bombing operation against the German fleet the following day. For these early flights he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted on 10 October 1939 and among the very first gallantry awards of the conflict. McPherson went on flying with No. 139 Squadron into the German offensive in the West, and on 12 May 1940, during the Battle of France, he was killed in action near Lanaken in Belgium when his Blenheim was shot down. Aged 22, he is buried in Heverlee War Cemetery near Leuven.
Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including CWGC casualty record: McPHERSON, ANDREW, The London Gazette, issue 34705, 10 October 1939, p.6796 (DFC notice) and Wikipedia — Andrew McPherson (RAF officer). The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.
Burial / commemoration
- Cemetery
- Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium
Operations on this date. One raid in this archive was flown on the night of 12 May 1940: Veldwezelt. (Cross-reference by date — not in itself confirmation this airman flew it.)
Timeline
-
10 October 1939
Gazetted: DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross -
12 May 1940
Died
aged 22
Service
- Flying Officer, No. 139 Squadron (Jamaica)
Awards
-
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) — gazetted 10 October 1939
Awarded the DFC for reconnaissance flights over Germany in early September 1939, including the first British sortie across the German coast on 3 September 1939.
Source: CWGC casualty record: McPHERSON, ANDREW → · Commonwealth War Graves Commission